Saturday, January 21, 2012

2012 Sketchbook Challenge: Playing With Watercolors

Well ... I am still doodling ... deciding to add a little watercolor. I dug out my Twinkling H2O's, and decided to play a little bit. Still don't have the hang of it ... painting with watercolors does not come naturally - not like painting with acrylics does.

I had to walk away from it ... let it dry fully ... and I must say I'm not TOO unhappy with the blending of the colors .. they are vibrant ..and the Luminares always have that sparkly shimmer. All in all ... I think with a lot more practice, I'll get the hang of it.


Saturday, January 14, 2012

2012 Sketchbook Challenge: Playing With Color Pencils

I have never been a fan of color pencils ... I have never been a fan of sketching ... but the 2012 Sketchbook Challenge is slowly but surely changing that. It's all about the comfort zones we find ourselves nestled in .... and creatively - I've been tip toeing out of mine.

Still sidelined with this sciatic nerve ordeal ... but found myself trying, once again to capture what was in my head onto paper using color pencils.

While working on my piece, titled Faith, it suddnely clicked with me why I didn't like using color pencils ... I'm so used to painting and knowing how to perfectly achieve the look - the BLENDED LOOKS - I love .... that not knowing how to achieve this with the pencils is very frustrating.

But like all things...practice makes perfect ... so here is my most recent attempt with color pencils:



Pencils: Derwent

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

2012 Sketchbook Challenge

Happy New Year Everyone!!... I hope 2012 is treating everyone okay. For me, I'm starting off the New Year in pain .... a sciatic nerve in my back has sidelined me from painting, working ... can't do a lot of anything until I work this pain out.

Before my back acted up, I had decided to challenge myself this year and work on my sketching. The 2012 Sketchbook Challenge was just what I needed to challenge my skills.

For January, the challenge is simple doodling....something I do well ... or thought I did until I saw the entries!!WOW . but then I got a grip and decided to settle down. This isn't about other peoples skills...it's about mine...so here is what I did for the Free Doodling ... this was done before my back went out:



Since my back has gone out, I decided to really take the time - since I can't paint - to work on my sketching skills ...so I pulled out my Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain Vol 1 ... and started going through some of the exercises:

Starting Point



Working it Through



Sketch Complete - not bad for my first go round!